Once again, the 12 Hours of Sebring has inspired my to return to my keyboard and peck out another photo blog entry. I don't know why Sebring tends to bring out the blogger in me but I do have couple of theories. First, it is such a unique and grueling event it my require a certain amount of reflection to digest what you've just been through.

Early week, pre-race full field photo shoot (click on image for interactive 360 view)

More so than the 24 Hours of Daytona, but maybe not quite as much as Le Mans, the 12 Hour race at Sebring demands that a photographer servicing clients or providing editorial coverage of the event will be conscious and active for about 24 hours non-stop. Even the most ambitious photographer at the 24 Hours of Daytona can grab an hour or two of sleep and still get everything down. Le Mans, with its short period of total darkness really does not provide such an opportunity.

Setting up the full field shot (click on image for interactive 360 view)

Also, for many photographers, the week or two after Sebring provides the first downtime for a full-time motorsports photographer since New Years, so it may be a good time to sit at a computer and reflect on the beginning of the year before embarking on the mid-year grind that runs pretty much through August and beyond.

In any event, this year's event provided a platform to work with my newest gadget, a 360 degree Ricoh Theta S camera.

In my 35 year career I've found that, at least for me, occasionally I need something to come along to pique my interest and keep the juices flowing. It might be a new camera, new film (back in the day) , the advent of digital photography, a new lens, a new technique or a new bit of software. Lately, the last 3 years or so, I dabbled in 360 degree panoramic photography. Until recently for me, this meant an expensive pan-head for a sturdy tripod, and taking 36 separate exposures then assembling the 360 scene on the computer.

Recently I discovered the Ricoh Theta S 360 degree camera, which has opened up a new whole new world of 360 degree subjects for me. So my 2016 Sebring blog entry features a few 360 degree scenes from this great race in Florida.

I find these images to be very revealing in that you can scroll through the entire scene, zooming in or out to check details within the scene or create artsy alternative views that you are otherwise unable to access.

www.bcpix.com is the online home for the photographic archive of Florida-based photographer Brian Cleary. At this portal not only can you search and browse an ever-growing collection of photography covering more than 30 years, but many of the images are available for online purchase as editorial images, commercial images and/or personal use prints.